Menu

Write a persuasive essay agreeing (or disagreeing) that public relations in twenty-first century North America is conducted in a significantly more ethical manner than evidenced in the case of Burson-Marstellar working for the Argentine government

Objective The purpose of this assignment is to provide you as an individual PR practitioner with an opportunity to further understand PR’s tarnished ethical history by referencing a specific noteworthy case. You are asked to make a persuasive argument that PR has changed since the 1970s from an ethical perspective. See “Task” below. For more information on persuasive essays consult:https://essayinfo.com/essays/persuasive_essay.php orhttps://www.writeexpress.com/persuasive-essay.html orhttps://www.studygs.net/wrtstr4.htm Case Details In the 1970s, public relations giant Burson-Marsteller (B-M) now named Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW) embarked on a campaign for a new client: the Argentine Ministry of the Economy. In the words of media critic Joyce Nelson: …for five years the Argentine junta pulled off a public-relations coup that, in retrospect, must go down in the annals of ‘communications’ as a horrific but classic example of international PR in action.1 What might she have meant by this? Before merging with Cohn & Wolfe in March of this year, Burson- Marsteller was the world’s fifth largest PR firm at present, Burson-Marsteller was hired by the Argentinean government to help to improve the country’s image in an effort to increase foreign trade. This is a very common and legitimate activity for a public relations firm of B-M’s stature and capabilities. There was, however, considerable controversy about this representation for a very important internationally known reason: at the time of this hiring, Argentina was under the rule of a military junta. During the reign of that junta, it was widely acknowledged by the world community, including Amnesty International, that this governing council was perpetrating a wide variety of human rights transgressions that included but were not limited to torture and “disappearances.” Nelson’s comments were directly related to the belief that for a PR firm to represent such an organization meant that, by association, public relations as an industry must be moral bottom feeders. At the time, when asked about his company’s representation of this client, Harold Burson indicated his belief that this public relations activity had no association with any political objectives. He clearly distanced himself and his firm from the Argentinean President’s office.2 He maintained that working for the Ministry of the Economy did not constitute supporting the junta. Critics of public relations disagreed. Burson may have had a point and perhaps even an ethical justification, had he chosen to use it. Consider this argument. By an examination of outcomes of his organization’s activities, one might conclude that by improving the economy of this country, it might improve living conditions for the homeless and unemployed. If such activities can empower citizens, perhaps the outcome would put an end to what was widely referred to as President Videla’s reign of terror. This is a very utilitarian approach to rationalization of behaviour: the end justifies the means of obtaining the greatest good for the greatest numbers. Of course, another outcome was a significant improvement in B-M’s bottom line. Needless to say, this moral argument does not sit very well with the critics of human rights transgressions. Given this kind of attitude displayed by a very well-known “PR man” in the 1970s (and be sure to return to SourceWatch’s web page on BCW to see more updated activities), how can you support the view that public relations has evolved? Task: Write a persuasive essay agreeing (or disagreeing) that public relations in twenty-first century North America is conducted in a significantly more ethical manner than evidenced in the case of Burson-Marstellar working for the Argentine government.https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/SourceWatch?title=Burson-Marsteller

Write a persuasive essay agreeing (or disagreeing) that public relations in twenty-first century North America is conducted in a significantly more ethical manner than evidenced in the case of Burson-Marstellar working for the Argentine government

All rights reserved. Services of CustomEssayMasters.com are provided with the intent to assist students better focus on their major subjects and enhance their research strategies. Thus we expect proper referencing of our papers and we do not support plagiarism.

Write a persuasive essay agreeing (or disagreeing) that public relations in twenty-first century North America is conducted in a significantly more ethical manner than evidenced in the case of Burson-Marstellar working for the Argentine government